Vote-printing voting-machine.



D. L. NEWGOMB. VOTE PRINTING VOTINC- MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 6, 1905.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

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D. L. NEWGOMB.

VOTE PRINTING VOTING MACHINE.

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VOTE PRINTING VOTING MACHINE.

APPLIU TIUNP L 968,070. A mm 6 Patented Aug.23,1910

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UNITED STATES PATENT GFFIGE.

DAVID L. NEWGOMB, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

VOTE-PRINTING VOTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 23, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID L. NnwcoMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Vote-Printing Voting-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to voting machines in which the vote is registered by counters which can be in spected after the vote has been taken and recorded; and an object of this invention is to provide a distinct novelty and a superior improvement in machines of this kind.

Objects of the invention are :to render fraud and a false count absolutely impossible; to save time in making out the returns of an election; to permanently record the total vote cast for each candidate before said vote is open to inspection; to make such record before the counters are made accessible to observation or manipulation; to obviate the necessity of reading off the number of votes from the machine; to immediately supply to the election board and press representatives, manifold duplicate copies of the complete vote as soonas the voting machine is opened; to prevent the opening of the machine until the vote has been permanently recorded and manifolded; to provide record proof that the counters were properly arranged at the opening of the polls; and to accomplish all of the foregoing objects by a simple, compact and etli cient device which cannot be tampered with.

Other objects may appear from the subjoined detailed description and drawings.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention as applied to a vot ing machine of the character set forth in my application for Letters-Patent for voteregistering machine, filed June 17, 1903, Serial Number 161,773. It is to be understood, however, that this invention may be applicable to voting machines of other types.

In this invention, I so arrange a series of numbering counters in a vote-registering machine that an accurate record of the same can be printed from the counters at any appropriate time before the polls are opened, and after they are closed.

This voting machine is adapted to receive, register, count, and record the votes from a plurality of mechanical ballots which may be simultaneously or otherwise arranged by a plurality of voters in a plurality of booths and voted in rapid succession or otherwise, each vote being instantly counted, and the complete vote may be printed in manifold at the closing of the polls, and thus recorded before the result is open to inspection; and immediately thereafter, a ticketholder con taining the record of the vote may be opened to inspection and said record may at once, before inspection by any one, be signed in manifold by the election oflicers, and copies thereof distributed to the press while other signed copies are retained as records of the election, and all of this accomplished before the result of the vote is open to the inspection of any one.

I regard this invention as pioneer in its entirety, and also in the various parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a Voting machine embodying this invention. Line m a Figs. 2, 3 and 1, shows the line of section. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan on line m -w Fig. 1, except that a units wheel of one counter is shown. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on line indicated by 9J3, Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional front elevation of the machine on line 03*, Figs. 1 and 2, showing the sheet-holder and printing roller in place. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the sheet-holder removed and partly opened, and the sheets partly separated to expose the interleaved carbon sheets, a fragment of this carbon sheet through which signature will be made, being also shown. Fig. 6 is a broken plan of the ballotboX showing the slide.

1 in a general way designates counters provided with type 2.

3 in a general way indicates means for taking impressions from such type and by means of which the printing of the vote is accomplished. Said means for taking the impression may consist, as illustrated, of manifolding means for taking the manifold impression from said type. In such construction, 4c designates a sheet holder comprising two plates 5, 6, connected by a hinge 7, and provided with slots 8 and 9, through the first of which the type 2 may extend to contact with and impress or print upon the ticket sheets 10 through the medium of interleaved carbon sheets 11, a roller 12 having shoulders or collars 13 thereon being arranged to extend through the slots 9 to engage a carbon sheet 14, and through the medium of the same and the interleaved carbons 11, print or cause an impression of the vote indicated by the type, to be made upon the interleaved ticket sheets 10.

I do not propose to limit the construction to the specific form shown, but I deem the roll r constructed and arranged in connection with a slotted sheet holder to be the best form in which I contemplate embodying the invention.

In the form shown, the counters 1 are circular.

15 indicates means for rotating the counters. The sheet holder is arranged to move toward and from the counters so that while the machine is in use for registering votes, the sheet may be held withdrawn from the counters, and when it is desired to print the result of the election, the sheet may be brought into contact with the type of the counters which indicate the result of the election. The counters are preferably arranged in rows, each row of counters being devoted to some political party.

16 designates a tube upon which a plurality of counters, each having a series of counterwheels, are mounted, the same forming a row or bank of count rs for the nominations of a political party.

Means, 15, for rotating the counters are arranged for actuating the units wheels 17 of each series of counters, and means indicated in a general way by the character 18 are provided inside the tube for transmitting motion from the units wheels of the re spective counters to the other wheels of such counters, respectively. The means for transmitting motion from the units wheels to the other wheels of their series, respectively, are arranged inside the tubes that carry the counter wheels, thus economizing space and avoiding external complications, and making each bank or row of counters for any particular party, a unitary device which may be removed from and replaced in the voting machine independently of any other bank or row of counters, and means are provided whereby, at a single movement, all of the motion-transmitting means of any bank or row of counters may be withdrawn from operative contact, thus releasing all the counter wheels so that they can be quickly returned to zero. The units wheel 17 of each series has ratchet means 19 for its step by step actuation, and the pawl means 15 for actuating said ratchet means are arranged on one side of the counters, while the means for taking the impression from the counters is on another side of the counters so that the operation of the printing means is not interfered with by the counter-actuating means, the ratchets of which are below the printing face of the types 2. Means shown in Fig. 5 for holding the sheets for taking impressions from the counters are movably mounted inside the case 20 of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, together with the other mechanism, guides 21 being provided to hold the sheet holder in position, as shown in Fig. 1 where the same is yieldingly held by retracting springs 22 with the sheets normally out of the way of the counters.

The roller 12 is carried in a slotted frame 23, the ends 24, 25, of the slot being bent forwardly from the line of the intermediate portion 26 thereof. The shaft 27 of said roller is mounted in said bent slot, and means are provided, as a bail 28, for moving the shaft 27 along the slot from one end to the other of said frame 23, the result being that as the roller is thus moved it is held forcibly against the carbon and ticket sheets, and against the sheet holder, forcing all of the same toward the counters and causing the first ticket sheet to engage the types of the counters, whereby an impression from the carbon sheets will be made, thereby printing upon the ticket sheets and permanently recording the vote indicated by the several counters.

The roller 12 and its frame 23 are yieldingly held toward the counters by springs 29 which are fastened to the case or frame 20 of the machine, and act upon the roller frame 23 to force the same in the direction of the counters, so that when the roller shaft is drawn along the intermediate portion 26 of the slot, the printing will be accomplished by said roller without undue strain on the counters.

30 is a front door of the machine hinged at 31 to the frame at one edge, preferably the bottom of the door, and provided at the other edge, preferably the top of the door, with a spring catch 32 which engages a stationary catch 33 on the frame, and is releasable only by engagement of the roller 12 with an arm 34 of the spring catch 32 at the upper end of the bent slot The shifting roller-carrying frame 23 is provided with transverse slots 35 which are engaged by stationary studs 36 so that the frame 23 is held in sliding adjustment inside the case.

37 designates in a general way means for shifting the motiontransmitting means inside the tubular supports 16, respectively. Any suitable means may be employed for this purpose. Such means are shown, described, and claimed in my application for counter, Serial No. 282,111, filed Oct. 10, 1905, filed contemporaneously with this application.

38 designates a slot in the top of the case 20 to allow access to the interior of the tubular support 16 of the counters to allow the shifting means to be manipulated to throw seeps/'0 the motiontransmitting means 18 out of gear with their counter-wheels, respectively.

39 is a dove-tailed slide to close the slot 38, and the same may be locked or sealed in closed position by any suitable means; preferably a bolt 40 held in locked position by the closed door 30 is provided for locking the slide 39 in place.

It is to be noted from Fig. 1, that the spring catch 32 is constructed to be released only after the roller 12 has passed over the ticket holder for printin the result of the election, so that said door after being once closed cannot be opened until the position of the counters has been registered by taking the impression therefrom.

The sheet holder 4 is desirably provided with one or more slots or openings 41 on the side toward which the faces of the ticket sheets will face when said sheets are in place in the sheet holder, so that when the ticket sheets are in the holder the election officers, or other accredited persons, may write their signatures on the ticket sheets in manifold through the medium of the carbon sheets.

In practical use, the polling place will be supplied with a voting machine, and a plurality of ballots and booths, not shown; and before the polls are opened for voting, the election officers may place in the sheet holder 4 the desired number of ticket sheets and carbon sheets. After assuring themselves that the counters are all arranged at zero, the sheet holder will be placed in position and the bail 28 will be drawn from the machine, thus running the roller over the tickets and causing a record of the condition of the printing types of the counters before the polls are opened. Then the sheet holder may be removed from the machine, and the proper oflicials or by-standers may afliX their signatures to the sheets through the openings 41, whereupon the sheets may be removed and inspected, thus assuring the othcers and the by-standers that the counters are in proper condition before starting. These sheets may be preserved as a record of the election, and another setof ticket sheets with carbon sheets 11 appropriately interleaved, and another carbon sheet 14 applied over the face of the uppermost ticket, and the carbon sheets with their carbon faces against the faces of the tickets, respec tively, will be placed in the sheet holder, which will then be fastened together by means, as a clamping latch 42. Then, the roller having been returned to the position shown in Fig. 1, the sheet holder and its sheets will be inserted into the guides 21 and secured therein by the latches 43, a shoulder 44 being provided at the bottom to seat the hinged end of the sheet holder. Then the door 30 will be closed, the spring catch 32 latching over the catch 33 and precluding any opening of the door until the springcatch has been released by the roller acting on the arm 34. Then the polls may be opened and a voter may deliver to the election oflicer a ballot 45 which may be inserted through the ballot opening 46 in the case 20 and into the ballot carrier 47 whereupon the election oflicer may appropriately operate the machine to move the ballot 45 so that the tappets 48 thereof may actuate the pawls 15 to register the vote in the way described in my said former application for patent. After the polls have been closed, the bail 28' will be drawn up to cause the roller 12'to operate to print the result of the election on the ticket sheets, and to release the catch 32, thus allowing the door 30 to open, whereupon the sheet holder may be removed from the machine. Thereupon, the election oflicers or other accredited persons may aifiX their signatures on the sheets through the openings 41, and then the ticket holder may be opened and the ticket sheets 10 removed and distributed to the accredited oflicers and such press representatives as may be entitled thereto. In this way the result of the election is )ermanently recorded and placed in the hanc s of many after having been incontestably attested.

What I claim is 1. A voting machine provided with a case, a door for the case, a catch for the door, counters inside the case, said counters being provided with raised type, means for holding a sheet or sheets adjacent said type, a movable frame, and a roller carried by said frame to press the sheets against the type, said catch being arranged to be released by the movement of said frame and roller after an impression has been made on the sheets.

2. A voting machine having counters, a door, a catch for the door, means for holding a sheet or sheets between the counters and door, and a roller arranged between the door and counters to first press the sheet or sheets toward the counters and then release the catch,

3. A voting machine having counters, a door, sheet-holding means between the door and counters, a roller between the sheetholding means and the door, means for rolling the roller across the sheet or sheets for pressing the same toward the counters to print therefrom, and a catch for the door, said catch being in the path of the roller to be released thereby near the close of its travel.

4. A voting machine having counters, a door, a catch for the door, means for holding a sheet or sheets between the counters and door, and means arranged between the door and counters to first press the sheet or sheets toward the counters and then release the catch.

5. A voting machine provided with a case containing supports and counter, means inside the supports for transmitting motion from one counter Wheel to another, means In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set inside the sup-ports to shift transmitting my hand at Los Angeles, California this 10 means, a door for the case provided With a 25th day of September'l905.

catch, raised type on the counters, means for holding a sheet adjacent said type, a DAVID L. NEWCOMB. movable frame, a roller carried thereby adapted to contact said sheet and said type, In presence of the catch on said case being releasable after JAMES R. TOWNSEND,

an impression has been made on said paper. JULIA TOWNSEND. 

